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Singapore's StarHub launches first commercial 3G femtocell service
Generally speaking, when cable providers offer up "triple-play" packages, that third leg is a digital phone that acts as a standalone landline. Singapore's StarHub has a better idea, and it's calling it Home Zone. Hailed as the first commercial 3G femtocell service, the setup puts a MaxOnline-enabled router (free on loan) in the home "so that users can make voice and video calls and send SMS over StarHub's cable network from their mobile phones." Any 3G phone is compatible, and up to four calls can be made simultaneously on a single box. Moreover, all outgoing local voice calls, video calls and SMS are free, though the Home Zone subscription will run customers $30 per month -- unless they get in prior to the start of '09, which will give them half off for the next twelve months. Better hurry, too, as the whole shebang is only available to the first 200 customers at present time.[Via RCRWireless]
Singapore's StarHub rolls out HubStation HD DVR
High-def programming and DVRs -- they just go together, don't they? Like peanut butter and jelly. Like Romeo and Juliet. Like $150 Blu-ray players and Black Friday. And now, like StarHub and HubStation HD. Yep, the Singaporean cable provider has launched the aforementioned HD DVR for customers looking to record SD / HD content and watch later, and considering that you can't possibly watch everything on HD5, National Geographic Channel HD, Discovery HD, The History Channel HD and Sports HD at once, we suspect this will come in handy. Now, the only issue is finding the S$14.98 (US$10.02) every month to pay for it.[Via CNET]
StarHub adds another HD channel in Singapore, aims for more
Heads-up StarHub subscribers -- MediaCorp HD5 is getting set to launch on July 28th, just in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics to begin in August. Additionally, users can expect to see Sports HD (slot 304) starting on August 14th, which will provide access to high-def versions of 92 Barclays Premier League matches and weekly US PGA Tour events. On the upside, said station will be added gratis; however, HD Showcase will be removed when this one launches. Aside from the baffling switcheroo, we are pleased to hear that StarHub is aiming to offer five high-definition channels before 2009 dawns, though there's no word on what other two will (hopefully) join later this year.
Singapore's StarHub picks up MediaCorp HD5
Time to celebrate, Singapore. Your HD starved lineup on StarHub will soon be getting a tiny bit bigger, as MediaCorp's HD Channel 5 makes its debut on the service. Thanks to a recent agreement signed by the carrier and network, subscribers to StarHub's HD service will begin seeing HD5 sometime next month, which will reportedly air popular programs such as Lost, movies like Lord of the Rings and even the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Best of all, the newcomer will be provided to HD customers gratis. Doesn't get much better than free, huh?
Singapore's StarHub kills seven more analog channels in digital migration
Not quite two years after StarHub brought HDTV to Singapore, the firm has just announced that it pulled the plug on seven more analog channels as it looks to migrate its customers to digital. The affected channels, which include Cinemax and NHK World Premium, have now moved solely to the company's digital tier, forcing subscribers to fork over $4 per month to rent a digital set-top-box if they wish to continue viewing said stations. Currently, those content with analog can only tune into 39 channels, but that number is expected to shrink further in the near future. The way we see it, the move makes more room for HD expansion -- needless to say, that's a-okay with us.
Singapore to get VOOM HD, Sling HD via SingTel's IPTV service
While we've mentioned Singapore getting a little HDTV love in the past, it now seems that the nation will be getting a whole lot more when SingTel's IPTV service launches commercially "later this year." On deck is the entire suite of VOOM HD channels as well as the first Singapore-created HD channel, dubbed Sling HD, which will showcase "computer gaming and extreme sports." Singapore's Mega Media and Rainbow Media have joined forces to deliver the high definition content, and current testing on IPTV technical trials have proved successful. Unfortunately, there's no set timeframe in which to expect the service to leave testing and go mainstream, but at least you Singaporeans have a good bit of HD action to look forward to in 2007.
STMicroelectronics powering Singapore's HDTV trials
We already knew that Singapore had launched their HDTV trials but we didn't know to much about it and we like to know everything that concerns high-def. It turns out that STmicroelectronics is provide the decoder for six-month trial and they choose their state-of-the-art Sti710x chip. This decoder was the first single-chip H.264/AVC and VC-1 decoder when it launch in 2005. It is a high-intergrated design that allowed StarHub to choose the SC-3800C for Singapores first pay-TV HDTV service. Currently there are around a 1,000 users of this box that is helping Singapore jump feet first into the high-def age.
HDTV coming to Singapore
Singapore is set to launch their first HDTV signals come June. This is going to be a trial run for six months and conducted by Singapore's only cable TV operator, StarHub. There is going to have six terrestrial channels available for the tests. Apparently this is the right time for Singapore to do this as they already have ample content and there are tons of HDTVs in households. There is an estimated 200,000 high-def TVs across the Asian country which works out to be one in every five households.
"Asia-Pacific Mobile Alliance" to allow seamless roaming over seven countries
About one hundred million Asian mobile subscribers are about to experience a better roaming experience around the continent thanks to a new multi-carrier initiative to create a so-called "Virtual Home Environment." Seven wireless providers covering eight countries and regions -- NTT DoCoMo (Japan), FET (Taiwan), Hutchison Essar (India), Hutchison Telecommunications (Hong Kong and Macau), KTF (South Korea), Indostat (Indonesia), and StarHub (Singapore) -- have formed the "Asia-Pacific Mobile Alliance," as it's tentatively known, to eventually enable seamless voice, video, and data roaming across their networks. According to the joint press release, when the initiative goes live in the latter half of the year, GSM/GPRS and W-CDMA customers will also enjoy access to the basic services they've become accustomed to, such as caller ID and quick access to voicemail and home carrier tech support via short-code service.
